The Utah Jazz and the Chicago Bulls are 2 of the top 6 teams in either conference. The 2 teams have a similar record and match up pretty well. In this matchup today, the Jazz went home with the win after beating the Bulls 125-110. The 15 point beatdown was led by Donovan Mitchell who had a game-high 37 points. The Jazz improved to the 4 seed after the victory.
The game was tied for most of the game and began to shift in Jazz’s favour, late in the 3rd quarter. The game was tied at 71 at the 4:48-minute mark but by the end of the quarter, the Jazz was up 8 and led the game 89-81. They carried the momentum into the 4th quarter and never gave the lead up throughout the rest of the game.
The Chicago Bulls’ superstars, Zach Lavine and DeMar DeRozan had a great game. Lavine had 33 points and 5 assists while DeRozan had 25 points, 7 assists, and 5 rebounds. The 3 other Bulls in double digits were Nikola Vucevic (10 points and 11 rebounds), Ayo Dosunmu (15 points), and Coby White (12 points). In the end, it was not enough to get over a very good Jazz team led by Mitchell.
The Utah Jazz had 4 other players in double digits in addition to Mitchell’s 37 points. The reigning 6th man of the year, Jordan Clarkson had 26b points, Rudy Gobert was huge on the boards as well, and 14 points and 20 rebounds. The other 2 players were Nickeil Alexander-Walker (16 points) and Mike Conley (14 points and 7 assists).
The win puts the Donovan Mitchell-led Jazz at the 4th spot in the Western Conference while the loss puts the Bulls in a precarious position. The Chicago Bulls are the 5 seed in the Eastern Conference after the Boston Celtics beat the Golden State Warriors. The situation is similar in the East and the West where the 4 and 5 seeds will come down to the last game. If the Bulls do not beat out the Celtics, they could lose home-court advantage in the Playoffs. They will need that advantage, going against the Celtics.